“God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5)
What are your thoughts when you think of God? Is He nothing but love or is He full of anger? Is He actively involved in His creation or has He abandoned us to be on our own? Does He do good or is He mischievous? Or do you choose not to think about God at all?
Throughout the Bible, there are many descriptions given of God. We discover more about who He is as we understand His attributes. A few of those attributes are:
A metaphor the Bible often uses to describe God is light. In comparison to darkness, God is to be understood as light. God’s perfect attributes shine onto His creation. He is absolutely holy, absolutely righteous, absolutely pure, and absolutely good.
Since God is light, there is no darkness in Him. He is perfectly holy, meaning He is without sin. Unlike God, all people are corrupted by sin. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
Naturally, we all walk in the dark rather than the light. We love to sin. When someone makes us mad, it feels good to get angry and hate them. Often times we look at the possessions of others with a fierce jealousy. We all have an immense amount of pride, assuming ourselves to be better than those around us. We even take joy in breaking the law while exceeding the posted speed limit. Every one of us commits sin against God and are therefore subject to sin's consequences.
In order for God to remain perfectly holy, righteous, pure, and good He must punish all sin. If He did not, He would no longer be perfectly light. Because He is light, He must not allow darkness to continue. Since we are all sinners, we all are owed the wrath of God against sin.
But God is also love! “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). God cannot ignore sin, but because of His love He does not want to see us punished. This is why He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to the world to suffer our punishment and take on the sin of the world!
Jesus Himself said, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life” (John 8:12). All who turn to God and put their faith in Him become partakers of His light. They no longer fear the penalty of sin, but they have a new life walking in God’s light!
If you recognize that walking in the dark and loving sin is wrong, turn to Jesus Christ and find a new life in Him! He is the light of the world and He wants us to live according to His light. Turning to Him means we must change our mind about sin, agreeing with God that “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6). We must choose to walk by faith in Christ Jesus and His payment on the cross for our sin. “If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).
While we will still fight against sin throughout our lives, those who have decided to turn from their love of sin to a love for God will find salvation from their sins in Him! “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Turn to Jesus, find forgiveness from your sins, and walk in His light!